Sovereign Will
by Koeji
Summary: AU, Suzalulu. As a servant and his lord, Suzaku and Lelouch could always trust each other. But as a conspiracy steeped in an ancient power unfolds around them, they find that they may need each other more than ever.
1. Syllogism

Hello! Thank you for checking out my little story...that isn't going to be so little.

I'm not used to writing multichapter fanfictions, so please forgive me....

The idea for this story originated when KarimaTinCan, a friend and I were sitting in Olga's and Karima told me about the new Code Geass manga that was going to be set in the 19th century. Our minds immediately drifted to the frills of Victorian, turn-of-the-century England, filled with dramatic costumes and master-servant relationships.....

...Then we found out it was going to be set in 19th century Japan. Nothing against it or anything, but...we were a little disappointed.

So I said, "Well, maybe I should just do it right myself."

Well, here it is, after October...the first chapter of the not-so-little lovechild of myself, KarimaTinCan, and another friend. Thank you for all of your help, guys. -w-

I would be very happy if you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!

* * *

"Checkmate."

The eyes of the nobleman swept over the segregated sectors of the chessboard, littered with participants of a clear majority. A once-towering king of white cowered in an isolated corner. Three pieces of opposing color surrounded it. At the far edge of the board a set of fingernails rapped the marble surface.

"You…!"

"I'm growing impatient, sir. I have other commitments to attend to." The boy, appearing to be only in his teens, rolled a black king over his fingers and tossed his hair back. "Tip over your king honorably. I expect much more prompt payment in the future."

The opposite nobleman's face contorted into a grimace. A single bead of sweat rolled down his nose. He stood abruptly, overturning the small table above his knees and sending the game pieces rolling across the floor. "You're a cheat!" he shouted. "You switched the pieces! I...I won't be humiliated by a school-age child!" He made a sudden and swift motion to seize the boy's wrist in vexation, but was met with nearly reflexive dizzying sensations and ethereal colors clouding his vision. He grasped his sternum firmly and grasped the armchair for support. A third shadow had fallen across the chessboard and spoke in a hushed voice to the teen.

"Lelouch. Payment or not, I think we should go." The boy appeared around the same age as the black-haired one, topped with moppy brown hair. His shoulders were slightly wider than average, although his entire body appeared twice as well-built as it was in comparison with the other's thin frame. He stood an inch or two shorter than the other, but his stern expression and clenched fists made him an imposing figure. A loose, ash-grey cape unfurled around his ankles.

The black-haired boy sighed. "I suppose so," he replied. "Let's go, Suzaku."

"Wait!"

The younger pair turned, the black-haired one's face plastered with annoyance. A pair of men had since appeared at the nobleman's side, dressed in attire befitting those in servitude to a man of his caliber, not unlike the clothing Suzaku wore under his cape. Their glances rapidly twittered between the condition of their lord and the pair of boys while taking whispered orders from the former. Their eyes finally settled on the pair and became astringent. The two took to their feet.

Lelouch shook his head. "Now, can't we all be adults here? Is there really a need for such violence over a game of chess?"

Suzaku and grasped Lelouch's wrist just as the men took to a run. Looks of alarm from other participants inside the chess parlor multiplied as the strange foursome raced outside the building and into the streets, their feet padding the cobblestone walkway staccato. The street of the shopping district was unnaturally unpopulated for a Sunday to the point where citizens leisurely strolled down the center of the main road without fear of injury by passing carts or carriages. Suzaku's panicky breath leant the symphony of everyday cacophony a sense of urgency oblivious to the passerby around them, except for those who rubbed shoulders with the pair and shouted in annoyance. The translucent steam produced by his exhales agilely separated and formed a mask around his face, propelled to the rear by the sheer briskness of their sprint. It was in times such as these, which seemed to have grown uncomfortably commonplace in recent times, that Lelouch felt gratitude to Suzaku's evident athleticism; the space between the two parties quickly grew to a complacent span. The brunette felt the tendons of Lelouch's wrist pulsating against his palm in exasperation. The background chorus grew to a low rumble as the pair sharply turned down alleyway after alleyway, growing victim to imposing brick walls and the distinctive scents of poverty. The cobblestone became rougher and tripping more volatile. The shouting from the chasers had grown to a minimum, lost behind the labyrinthine walls of the inner city. Suzaku, the apparent leader, slowed with heavy steps to a hesitant stop. He shifted his weight between the balls of his feet arbitrarily, perking his ears for some sort of indication that the pursuers were continuing their assault. None came.

A thinner body collided with Suzaku's in response to his sudden halt. "This is…getting to be a bit much," he said hurriedly between sparse breaths. He placed his hands on his knees for relief. The two were polar opposite in the area of athletics.

"If you find it so bothersome, then maybe you should stop gambling with formidable men," Suzaku replied.

Lelouch's chuckled snidely. "Where would the fun be in that? It's not the money that matters to me, after all."

"I'm saying that I might not always be able to outrun anyone who's set against you," Suzaku replied. He reached out and straightened a set of cockeyed tassels on the front of Lelouch's jacket.

The black-haired one smiled thinly. "You wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on me, Suzaku. I put my life in your hands."

"There's a thick line between being a servant and being a knight, my lord. As a knight, my first priority would be hunting down those men…as your servant, my first priority is making you presentable and happy," he stated, concluding with his meticulous tying. "You shouldn't confuse my duties like that."

"You shouldn't be so picky about things like that, Suzaku. We've been together long enough to stop caring. And don't call yourself my servant."

"I won't be able to if you get caught someday. That'll be the end of me." Suzaku sighed. "I'm pushing your father's generosity as it is by doing helping you do things like this. It feels awful."

"My father isn't important," Lelouch scoffed.

"But I owe him my life."

"And now I own it." He turned away from the brunette, giving him a purple-tinted sideways glance. "And I'll do with you as I please." Lelouch sighed. "Don't worry; I'll take full responsibility if we ever get caught."

Suzaku sighed. "For someone who insists that I not refer to myself as his servant, you sure do enjoy emphasizing your authority over me at times like this." Lelouch snickered in amusement.

"I thought you enjoyed being bossed around," he mused.

"It's not that I enjoy it," Suzaku replied in an absentminded tone. "It just leaves less room for error that way."

"Are you that afraid of the will of your own actions, Suzaku?"

He chuckled. "Something like that. Or maybe I'm just a masochist. Of course, anyone would have to be to deal with you every day."

"Hm. I suppose that makes me a sadist, then." Lelouch's amethyst eyes scrolled the ashen horizon like the pages of a flip book, scrutinizing the ornate silhouettes of affluent buildings for irrational threats. At the mouth of the tunnel formed by the buildings lining the alleyway he could see a patch of greenery lined by a wrought-iron fence. A park – it stood in stark contrast to the inner city surrounding them now. The edges of his sight were much less pleasant: cinereal, primitive dirt walkways dotted with overflowing sewers, edged with decrepit mounds of clothing (he presumed there were humans in there somewhere) lining the walkway like pitiful wallpaper. Far away he heard the familiar clops of a horse's hooves. It was a familiar scene, no doubt; Suzaku and he frequently took refuge in these areas of the city when the two of them (or more so Lelouch) got into trouble. It was a place that not even the peons of a nobleman under orders would go into; such was one of the many downfalls of the pride of their affluence, and one that Lelouch made frequent and convenient exploitation of.

No; those men didn't even deserve to live, catering to their master's whims without a second thought. Errors begat more errors, each more erroneous than the last. They were more victims of the whimsical social hierarchy bent on its own destruction from within. Their lord…he was a person of power and towering respect, yet he threw tantrums like a child, spent his time chasing boys who defeated him in games rather than helping the bodies slumping against the brick walls before him. Yes; the sordidness of the alleyway made it a fitting place for Suzaku and Lelouch to escape to.

_Does our experience with shameful things make us unclean?_

_Or is the ignorance of shameful things by someone in power a sin in and of itself?_

_No; there are two types of sin._

_The sinful ignorance caused by a void of empathy._

_And the sin of those in power doing nothing to stop it._

"Grab her!"

Lelouch's inner monologue was broken by a torrent of men's voices rounding the corner of the alleyway. There were four broad-shouldered men, each wearing a black, double-breasted military uniform with their hands on their guns. Running in front of them was a girlish figure in her teens, her brow obscured by the brim of a tan beret. Green locks unfurled themselves from inside the hat with each motion her body made. She was panting heavily.

"I said, grab her!" one of the men shouted toward Suzaku and Lelouch once again.

"Forget it!" yelled the one to his left. He grasped the holster of his handgun and a duet of pangs reverberated between the walls of the alley. A crimson splatter painted Suzaku's chest as the bodies of both the girl and his master fell to the ground.

~*~

"_Would you like to make a contract?"_

_ The world was blank and white, characterized by fleeting images outlined in charcoal._

"_Your master is dying."_

_ A woman's voice echoed inside the white world. Her face formed an overlapping mosaic on the curved walls, unblinking. He, too, was flickering in and out of existence, his charcoal outline being erased and redrawn._

"_Of course, it wouldn't be a contract between you and me."_

_ She ended with a chuckle. Her feminine figure appeared before him unclothed. An outline of hair tumbled down her back and over her shoulders. _

What kind of contract? _He found his lips unable to move, but his thoughts echoed out of his mind like an open birdcage._

"_As I said, not between you and me. A contract between you and your master, to save his life."_

What can I do?

_ She ran her slender fingers through her hair._

"_If you so wish it, I will give your master the grace of immortality. He will live for all eternity. In turn, you shall receive from him the Power of the Kings, the sovereign will of God over all others. That will be your reward and your punishment, for taking his fate in your hands. You will live for him the life which he was meant to. The life that will be taken as another is given."_

_ He shook his head. _I…I don't have the right to decide something like that.

"_Don't you?"_

"I put my life in your hands, Suzaku."

_ A statement like that from Lelouch was far from an expression of trust and vulnerability._

_ It was an order to take his life in his hands._

"…Then I'll do it."

~*~

He awoke with Lelouch's bloodied, dark tufts of hair drooping over the crux of his elbow. The boy's body lay lifeless, along with the girl's in front of him. The four men stood not far from him, each quivering in fear.

_Kill them._

Lelouch's voice mirrored that of the girl's from within the white world, coming from all directions.

_Yes, your majesty._

"W-we didn't mean to shoot the boy!"

"He just happened to—"

Suzaku slid his hand below Lelouch's knees and rose to his feet.

_"You will live for him the life which he was meant to."_

"On behalf of Lelouch vi Britannia…"

"…die."


	2. Spectrum

When I mean I'll upload a new chapter at the end of May, I mean /at the end of May/. Anyway, I greatly apologize for the lateness of this update, and I hope it is to your satisfaction.

My muse KarimaTinCan has put me on a regimen of one chapter per month, so you can look forward to that.

Please enjoy it~

* * *

"Good morning, your majesty."

The peeling back of the heavy velvet curtains released a torrent of sunlight into the room. The submerged figure on the bed stirred lethargically, resembling a forgotten sled buried by snow. With effort a bunch of black hair made its way to the edge of the sheet. A pale face turned to Suzaku with a mixture of animosity and apathy.

"Suzaku." A clipped greeting. It had come to be the maximum Suzaku expected from the young master in the morning. Lelouch's lean torso rose from the sea of blankets languidly, wrapped in a white button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone carelessly.

The brunette pushed open two panels of the oversized plate glass windows that took up most of the eastern wall of the high-ceilinged room. He brushed his white-gloved hands together and adjusted the sleeves of his dark blue uniform. A golden Britannian crest wrapped around his left sleeve. Suzaku picked up a plain-looking brush from the dresser at the foot of Lelouch's bed and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled it through the tangled mop of dark hair, which was surprisingly smooth considering its state. Lelouch's amethyst eyes remained half-opened. If Suzaku had not known that this was his master's neutral expression, the unintentional scowl would have frightened him. "Is there anything happening today?" the dark-haired boy inquired.

Suzaku leafed through the various articles of clothing hanging in Lelouch's closet. "Your brother Schneizel and your sisters Cornelia and Euphemia are coming here for lunch to discuss something," he replied after some thought.

"Discuss what?"

The servant's shoulders sagged. "I didn't think it was my place to ask, your majesty." He grasped a modest hangar holding a slightly formal outfit of a basic tuxedo design. Returning to Lelouch's bedside, Suzaku reached out to continue the job of undressing the master that sleeping had already done, only to have his hand swatted away.

"I can do things like this myself, Suzaku," he mumbled, his face covered in a slight pinkish tone. Lelouch's willingness to be taken care of was often reliant on his mood when awoken; his tire would every so often overtake his pride, but it was still something quite rare. "It always becomes tiring when they visit."

"You don't enjoy visiting with your siblings?"

Lelouch shook his head as his slender fingers went to work on the fasteners. "It's not that. I don't mind Euphy visiting. But my wills often clash with those of Cornelia and Schneizel."

A chuckle escaped Suzaku as he set to work meticulously making the bed sheets. "You're not exactly the easiest person to please, your majesty. I envy the fact that you have siblings to argue with. They do have your best interests in mind."

"You have it backwards, Suzaku. They have their own best interests in mind, not mine. When it comes down to it, they both have their own separate agendas. I'm nothing more than a required stepping stone."

"I think they're both good people," Suzaku replied. "And so is Princess Euphemia. Siblings shouldn't fight against each other like that."

Lelouch scoffed. "Euphemia is another matter entirely. She has even less power than me. She's nothing more than an optimistic, superficial figurehead for the people to associate with Cornelia's reputation." He paced along the floor with his head lowered. "Euphemia is too naïve to enter the world of politics just yet." He pulled his slender arms through the black sleeves of the jacket trimmed with silver cord on the cuffs and lapel.

Suzaku cocked his head. "Then, is it better to be in the world of politics and know what you're doing but have no power to do it, or is it better to be in power but naïve of the issues?"

The prince shrugged his shoulders. "Depends if you're on the end of the decision-maker or the ones who have to deal with the decision no matter what."

"Which end are you on?"

He paused. "Both. And that's what makes me different from them."

* * *

"There have been rumors of small-scale uprisings taking place in the outer districts, headed by anti-Britannian forces. Small resistance groups have been gaining footing and popularity in the past months."

Cornelia li Britannia's voice, typically laced with authority and subtle conceit, reported this with a tone suited to a seasoned general such as herself. She sat with a straight back and a defiant glance, tossing her violet hair over her shoulder. She wore a well-maintained, maroon Britannian general's uniform. "Of course, we've seen this coming for quite some time. My preference would be to pluck its roots before it has a chance to grow."

Schneizel replaced his cup to the table with a clink. "Don't let your head get the best of you, Viceroy." He sat back in his chair and interlaced his fingers. "Acting rashly at such a delicate time in the revolutionary process only serves to add more fuel to the rebels' fire. If you act on militaristic impulses now, the non-Brittanians will only see it as an unnecessary act of aggression. For right now it's best to sit back and let their actions play out. At the first sign of any real danger, we crush them in one fell swoop, gaining more support from the endangered Britannians."

"You're going to manipulate them like that?" Princess Euphemia's dulcet voice rang. "Don't we have ample support from the Britannian nobles already? As long as the resistance group is still small, it should be easy to arrange something with them to save them…."

Cornelia shook her head. "It's far from that easy, Euphy. These hot-blooded, ungrateful savages have no idea what they're dealing with. If they have the unmitigated gall to stand against the country which has given them so much prosperity, then I highly doubt they possess the rationality and sophistication to carry out a diplomatic conversation."

"On the contrary, Cornelia." Lelouch asserted his posture and curled his slender fingers around the arms of the chair. "If _you _possess such unmitigated gall so as to effectively insult and belittle the members of a different race, I would not think twice about calling you yourself a savage."

A clangor of porcelain clattering on the table. Cornelia's fists were shaking. She stood erect, toppling her chair. "I won't tolerate such…insolence!" She struck the surface with the butt of her hand. "Don't just take my words and twist them around—"

"I won't stand for the outright slaughter of the rebellion instigators as per your preference, Cornelia." Lelouch closed his eyes and folded his hands together in his lap. "Such barbaric practices are far past their time. If the operation is exterminated after a certain level of growth the nobles will come under fire for not taking notice of the events."

Cornelia slumped back into her chair. "So even the great Lelouch has no other options to consider. I would advise you not to speak unless you have something of value to add to the conversation, boy. A series of baseless insults is very unbecoming of you. If you feel such sympathy toward the non-Britannians, leave this discussion and set up a rally on the street corner." She tossed her violet hair over her shoulder with flourish. "And don't allow your servant's feelings to live so vicariously through you."

The dark-haired prince gagged on his tea. "Excuse me?" he struggled to say between breaths.

"That's right…Suzaku is an outsider, isn't he?" Princess Euphemia said. "But his father was the prime minister of Japan."

"Area 11," Cornelia corrected.

Euphemia gave her a sideways glance. "Area 11 cooperated with Britannia for a long time. But when Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi committed suicide, Britannia took them over and Suzaku became Lelouch's servant."

"Something like that," Lelouch replied. "But regardless of my servant's former status, I have no intention of allowing our relationship to bend the will of a political advocate. In fact, I'm quite insulted by your insinuations, Cornelia. My will is not as light as you think."

The viceroy let out a haughty laugh. "Then, by all means, Lelouch. You seem so adamant in your position; I beseech you, if your will is so mighty, then take things into your own hands. Finish this rebellion in the way the mighty Lelouch things it should be finished. Do you have any objections, Lelouch? Schneizel?"

"Of course not," Lelouch replied matter-of-factly. He placed his elbows on the rim of the table and interlaced his fingers. "I've been prepared for this from the moment this topic began."

"Good, then. I'm anxiously awaiting your decisions, Lelouch. I wish you good luck." The viceroy rose from her seat and retrieved a long white cape from around the back of the chair, trying it under her chin. "We're leaving, Euphy."

"R-right," she replied, also rising from her seat. The pair exited through the pair of glass doors leading into the parlor, where Suzaku was resting in a violet armchair. Lelouch carefully picked up the porcelain cups and saucers left behind by the pair. He sighed nonchalantly; the recurring spats between himself and his half-sister Cornelia had only increased as the two of them grew. Lelouch was aware that such disagreements were inevitable between two people strong in ideals such as themselves; those who are too similar to each other tend to react explosively.

"I do hope you haven't gotten in over your head, Lelouch," Prince Schneizel muttered monotonously.

Lelouch scoffed. "There's no such thing as something too big for me to handle, Schneizel," he replied transcendently. "I always have everything I need in the palm of my hand."

"I hope that's true," Schneizel replied with clipped laughter. An icy, all-knowing smile spread across his face, a reflection of Lelouch's. He turned sharply, the hem of his coat fluttering in the breeze. "I should be going, then. I thank you for the tea."

Suzaku bowed to the prince as he passed through the glass-paned windows and immediately went to work clearing the table. His master carried two delicate porcelain saucers in his white-gloved hands. "Did everything go smoothly?" he questioned. The viceroy and her sister seemed to leave rather quickly.

"Smooth as ice," the prince replied. "Tell me, Suzaku – do you know anything of the rebellions taking place in the outer slums of the city?"

The servant wore an expression of surprise. "I haven't heard anything, your highness. I don't go into the slums very often, except when you're gambling."

A wry smile crossed Lelouch's lips at the anecdote of Suzaku's sentence. "Suzaku," he muttered. "Do you remember earlier…when you asked me what end of the spectrum I was on? The role of the decision-maker or the role of the underling?"

Suzaku nodded slowly.

"What end do you think you are on, Suzaku?"

* * *

The blood pulsed in his head with the terrifying rhythm of a speeding train, threatening to burst in his ears and clouding all of his senses. His eyes had failed him long ago; they were glazed over like frosted glass, only able to make out fleeting, kaleidoscopic shapes of color outlined against the sky. His fingertips tingled with unknown and foreign tension. His chest was numb; his head was numb; all of him was numb, save for the strident impact of his feet against pavement and the droplets of blood coursing down his wrists.

By some virtue he found himself inside the manor and placing his master's body on his bed. Without thinking, the edge of his palm brushed away the tendrils of black hair from his master's forehead. The simple feeling of their skin making contact tickled every one of Suzaku's nerves like a rushing stream carrying pebbles to an unknown destination. His master's eyes did not open, but a ghostly notion in the servant's mind gave his body the spark of life even in its petrified state. He somehow knew that his master was not dying.

"Lelouch," he whispered. His heart ached for a response. Even in his mind's curious state of certainty, Suzaku could not shake the terror gripping his consciousness. Above all else he craved the transient peace of the world the green-haired girl had shown him, the absoluteness of the link between Lelouch and himself. Even the sound of Lelouch's voice echoing a response would do.

The prince was silent, and with the gravity of his silence came the sudden weight of realization in the servant's mind.

Those four men's bodies, abandoned and rotting, somewhere filled an alley with the stench of death, delivered by Suzaku's hands. A small part of the servant begged him to shake his head. No, it was by their own hands. A grotesque slideshow replayed itself in Suzaku's third eye, stained crimson and riddled with blank enigmas where his memory and consciousness had failed. Somehow the frames skipped and corrupted themselves between the men's fingers on their triggers and their bodies on the ground. His mind would not allow him to remember the rest.

Nevertheless, nausea overcame him and sent him reeling for the bathroom.

He felt only more sickened after the act, not for the burning in his throat but for allowing such a thing to remove him from his master's side in his time of need. The deed had been dealt by Lelouch's will; Lelouch had entrusted him to carry it out in all of its consequences. Suzaku traced his fingers over the ebony latches of Lelouch's jacket, stained with burgundy. The gunshot wound would have to be treated quickly; he could not forgive himself for waiting even this long to address it. He owed too much to Emperor Charles to allow his son to die this way.

A small, dirty cylinder rolled onto the bed as Suzaku pulled the jacket open. He rolled it across his fingertips curiously. The bullet had entered Lelouch's back and gone straight through, the bullet somehow lodging itself in his clothing. Suzaku gingerly pulled his master into a sitting position and wrapped his arm around his thin waist for support. The white undershirt fell away, revealing a mess of blood smeared across his chest in stark, grotesque contrast with his pale skin. Bracing his stomach, Suzaku leaned his body forward to inspect the wound.

The wound had disappeared.

Suzaku frantically moved his hand over the length of Lelouch's back, searching for any sort of liaison, any irregularity in his otherwise smooth skin. He met with profuse dried blood, but no wound at all. Not even the white sheets were dirtied with fresh blood.

There was a soft knock on the frame of the door.

"Lelouch?" a girlish voice said. "Are you in here?"

A floating pink head curved around the doorframe. In his haste, Suzaku had neglected to close it. Unconsciously, he wrapped a sheet over his master's body. "Sir Kururugi?" Her wide, clear eyes, swirling blue pools, fixated on the scene before her, and she shrank back. "Oh, I..I'm very sorry, Sir Kururugi. Is my brother sick?"

Lelouch's sister, Third Princess Euphemia, Suzaku's mind narrated. "N-no, not at all, your highness," he replied. He dropped to one knee and placed his fist over his heart. "His majesty is only sleeping."

"Oh, I'm glad." Euphemia let out a melodic sigh. Her curly pink hair was unusually done up in a ponytail, exposing more of her round face. "I brought some pastries to share over tea with him, but I suppose I've come at a bad time. I'll just leave them here. I don't want them to go to waste." She placed a wicker basket on Lelouch's dresser filled to the brim with colorful sweets. The white bow tied to the handle and the lace trim gave the basket a motherly feel. She traced the rim of the basket with a single fingertip. "Unless…you would like to join me, Sir Kururugi. If it would not take you away from your duties."

Suzaku's eyes flittered between the girl and the body lying under the sheets. "T-thank you for the kind offer, your highness, but I…I should really stay with my master right now," he stammered. The falling of Euphemia's eyes sent a pang through his heart. "Unless…we stay right outside the room."

The array of pastries covered every square inch of the small coffee table outside of Lelouch's room. Suzaku gingerly pushed the arrangement to make room for the two teacups which could barely grasp their own territory. As he picked up his own saucer, the clanging of porcelain disrupted the silence. His fingers were trembling just holding the teacup. Lelouch had given him the basics of proper etiquette to be performed at such an event, but Suzaku's inexperience had gotten the better of him. Princess Euphemia, on the other hand, appeared in her full splendor, lifting the cup to her lips with the utmost grace and elegance. She smiled at Suzaku as she placed her teacup back onto its saucer. It seemed that she had chosen not to exploit Suzaku's weakness in these sorts of situations.

"I came to apologize to my brother for what happened yesterday," she said somberly. Her eyes fell to her knees where her fingers curled under the hem of her skirt. "My sister can be a handful sometimes. I know that he knows this, but I can't help but feel sad for the two of them. They're just too similar to be compatible," she added with a small laugh.

"His majesty said something similar," Suzaku replied. "I'm sure he wasn't angry with Princess Cornelia. Prince Schneizel stayed for a while after her."

Euphemia's chest heaved with a sigh. "My sister never lets me stay with the two of them. She finds everything not business-related completely pointless. She doesn't think I can talk about anything worthwhile with my brothers. It's so frustrating."

"I can't picture you getting angry very easily," Suzaku said with a chuckle. Correcting his error, he shook his head. "What I mean to say is, with all due respect, your highness."

Princess Euphemia let out a girlish chuckle. "You don't have to be so formal with me, Sir Kururugi. After all, we've known each other for quite a few years now."

Despite her words putting his well-protected knightly conduct at stake, Euphemia's smile somehow put Suzaku at ease. "Y-yes, your highness," he said curtly.

"Euphemia."

"What?"

Her gaze hardened. "I don't want you to call me 'your highness'. Call me Euphemia."

"Eu-Euphemia…," he stammered. The word was caught in his throat.

She smiled again. "Euphy is fine too."

"I'll..take it slowly," Suzaku said with a sigh. Their eyes lifted and met each other. The strange aura caused them both to laugh.

"You are a kind person, Sir Kururugi," she said. "You take such good care of my brother."

"It's…it's fine to call me…by my first name, also," Suzaku said. He focused his gaze on the shifting tea on the table. "If you would like to, I mean."

"Hmm…Su-za-ku." She mouthed each syllable with such effulgence that it made Suzaku cringe. "It's a nice name," she seemed to decide.

The pillow juxtaposed to Euphemia made a sudden movement. A sliver of yellow shone in the darkness of the crack of the sofa, eyeing the princess curiously. "What do we have here?" she cooed. A head, then a pair of thin legs, then a slinky body and finally a flicking tail emerged from beneath the pillow, sniffing at the princess's hand curiously. The cat was a bluish-grey color with a dark patch over its right eye and a dark-tipped tail. Euphemia held her fingers out to its nose. The whiskers twitched with curiosity before allowing the princess to scratch behind its ears.

"I didn't know my brother had a cat," she said. "I'm surprised. I thought he hated cats."

"Ah, it's not really his cat," Suzaku replied. "This one just wanders in here every so often. It keeps finding new ways to get into the palace."

"Like a cat-burglar," Euphemia decided with a chuckle. She purred at the cat, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. "What's his name?"

Suzaku thought for a moment. "I don't think he has one. Lelouch—I mean, his majesty—says that if we give him a name, it'll be like telling him he belongs here and he'll never leave. But he also likes names like Oedipus and Dionysius, so it might be a good thing that he doesn't want to name this cat."

Euphemia chuckled. "My brother has such strange tastes." The princess and the cat fell back into their world of mutual conversation. "He says that his name is Arthur."

"Arthur?"

"Arthur," she confirmed. "You should call him Arthur."

"Arthur," he repeated. "Hello, Arthur." Mimicking Euphemia, he placed his hooked finger beneath the cat's nose. A pair of fangs sunk into the finger, drawing blood. Suzaku winced.

"Oh dear."

"I-it's alright," Suzaku reassured her. "I'm not…very good with cats."

"Oh, I'm sure he likes you deep down. I think you two will be the best of friends." She pulled open her bag and fidgeted around inside it, finally producing a pure white handkerchief. "Here. For the blood," she offered. Suzaku attempted to refute her gift, but she insisted.

_Thump._

Suzaku whirled around in a sudden daze. The room spun in place and blood was pounding against his eardrums.

_Thump._

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what, Suzaku?"

Suddenly his consciousness was being pulled through a vacuum, thrust and molded through an open tube in the empty space in his mind, sending colors flying across his vision. For a fleeting moment, Lelouch's portrait, outlined in charcoal and standing naked, flashed across his mind's eye, and just as quickly his state returned to normal.

"I-I'm sorry, Princess," he stuttered. Suzaku rose to his feet and bowed deeply at his waist to the girl. "I think…I think my master is calling for me."

"Oh. I see." The blue pools fell again to the hem of her skirt. "Don't worry about me. You should go to him." She flashed a smile and stood. "Tell him I dropped by, alright? And that I hope he feels better next time."

"Y-yes, your highness." He looked down at his palm in alarm. "W-wait! Your handkerchief—!"

"Keep it." She smiled over her shoulder. "If you wash it well, it'll give me an excuse to come back."

* * *

When Suzaku entered Lelouch's room, he was sitting up in the bed, eyes wide open and accusingly hard. "Did you have fun?"

"Y-you're…awake," Suzaku stammered. "Your majesty."

Lelouch nodded nonchalantly. Evidently he had cleaned the blood from his torso. "Euphemia left."

"She came by to see you," Suzaku replied. "But you were still asleep."

"I know." He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head in his crossed arms.

Suzaku opened his emerald eyes wide. "You were…in my mind," he concluded.

Another nonchalant nod. A welt in Suzaku's stomach threatened to explode.

Lelouch swung his legs over the side of the bed in an officious show that he was still able to move. "You got rid of those men. Or rather, they got rid of themselves."

The still frames projected themselves in Suzaku's mind.

"I died too."

Each word buried itself in his heart like a defective grenade: the fear of an impending explosion, a wait for a disaster which would never come.

Lelouch paused. A flush of pink spread across the center of his back. Blood boiled just below the surface of the prince's skin, culminating in a reserved shape of a bird in flight spreading across his back from shoulder blade to shoulder blade.

"Do you understand what happened, Suzaku?"

But Suzaku's mind had closed itself off from the situation. All he could see were the scarlet wings caressing his master's back, the indelible mark which he knew he had created, albeit unintentionally. However enigmatic in nature, it represented the first time Suzaku had been able to make a choice for his master.

And there would forever be evidence of his transgression smeared across Lelouch's back.

Lelouch's eyes flittered back to the window. "However it happened, you and I are connected. I was killed by those men, and you made the choice to bring me back to life." For an instant, Suzaku thought he saw the corners of Lelouch's mouth turn up. "And you seem to have quite the ability as well."

Some part of this statement made Suzaku blush.

"Whatever this is, I'm sure this arrangement will serve us well," he said with a hint of sadism.

"S-serve us…your majesty?" Suzaku stammered.

Lelouch nodded. "It's fascinating, isn't it? How easily people can be bent under one's will." His smile sent a chill over Suzaku's body. "I'm curious as to how yours will affect others. Aren't you, Suzaku?"

The servant could not muster a response.

* * *

"Well? Which end do you think you are on, Suzaku?"

The brunette shook his head. The black-haired boy smiled.

"I think you're on the end of the decision-maker."


End file.
